This is a good venue in psychology to measure the effects of MMORPGs on different psychological aspects, leadership skills, self-esteem, physiological reaction to stressors, self-representation and identity merging of the offline and online persona, self-control. Perhaps bombarding MMORPG players with many psych measurements scales with longitudinal studies would be a good project!!

About global perspective: I recall something that viewers who watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are more informed and accurate on world news than those who don't watch the show...

Would it be interesting to see whether there's a difference in global perspective between someone simply surfing and chatting on the internet and someone playing in a MMORPGs. Maybe test participants on a ethnocentrism scale.

I play in a roleplay community in SWG. I note that most, if not all, the above narratives come from PvE and PvP players. While I have seen most of the above described results, I wonder if roleplayers learn any thing else or differently.

Its amazing how much these games have evolved and have become like a second life for some people, or even the life that they always wanted. It also is quite interesting how the subconscious is affected to your in game choices and how communities and even economies that have evolved.

Kelly C , M, WoWcrack

My parnets wacth too much news and only get the negative aspect of MMO's. I'm glad that some one has taken the time to show the world that there is more benefit than hurt, when it comes to MMO games. Lastly I say there even safer than real life for in real life the person you just met could stalk you but in MMO's they have as much of a chance of finding you, as a arceologist finding a frozen dinosaur.

Now, if only you could market that without all the behavioural conditioning. I too found i have learnt about people from wow, but really i feel that if i weren't so focused on lvling then i would be able to think (period). Reflect on the mature of myself. I gave up because i found that there wasn't enough community amognst the players. The servers are too big and you really can't keep playing with your friends if they are lvl 40 when your still 15.

I usually work best in a leadership capacity. Specifically, I enjoy the challenges of leadership from a problem solving standpoint. I'm a student, and in my part time jobs I usually shirk as much responsibility as possible. However, when faced with that big nasty design project, presentation, or other large group project for class I always somehow end up the leader.

The same rings true in nearly every online game I play. I somehow stumble in to a leadership position, simply by virtue of having the prerequisite social skills and instinct to do so.

What is even more fascinating is that once I'm tasked with these responsibilities, they become the reason I continue to play. From the point I'm told I'm "in charge" I tend to jealously father my charges, supporting them financially (ingame), and orchestrating particularly cruel, often excessive vengeance on anyone who wrongs said charges.

It's strange that in real life I develop few close attachments, and normally wouldn't stick my neck out for anyone. Perhaps it's the lack of consequence in the real world, or the lack of sufficient resources to meaningfully manage in this fashion. Definite food for thought in this article

I think being a leader in-game serves to validate my role as a leader in RL. I am in a position where not only do I have to lead, but I am continually in the process of developing new leaders.

My guild ends up being kind of the same sort of "training" environment that I have in RL. I have surrounded myself with like-minded people who are my guild officers, and we are continually working to encourage improvement among the players in the guild.

It's not just improvement in play, although that is part of it, but it includes improvement in research, planning, organization, small group leading, economic strategy and planning, etc. Our guild tends to be very popular with mid-20s to mid-30s people of a similar mindset, with a large group of high school and early college people.

For example, I've given numerous lessons on market analysis (to the point of posting them on the guild website), weighing supply and demand to determine the best times to buy and sell certain things, how to determine what things are good to farm for making cash, etc.

I can't help but hope that some of the in-game lessons that we have instilled in our younger members have helped them become more successful in their outside lives. Often we see people come up through the guild, develop into well-rounded players with a vast array of skills, and then once they reach high level, many of them move on to endgame guilds. While it is sad to see them leave, it's a great feeling to see them so successful when you can remember when they were a helpless nooblet.